Naruto: When Answers Lie Elsewhere
by BabeSuperiour
Summary: "You should know, so give me some answers!The white lady, this faction war between the witches, why the hell i'm in it, how does it relate to this strange birthmark of mine. I need to know!" Eyes wild and his voice hoarse from yelling, the boy stared intently at the woman before him. "I cant help you," Naruto grit his teeth angrily. "Unfortunately boy, those answers lie elsewhere."
1. Spot Showers of the School Falling

"You've got some nerve you know." She said, a moderate group of kids behind her.

"Just because you happen to sit next to the Princess," She continued, now her gaze turning into one of anger. "You made her pick up the eraser you dropped, didn't you!"

'Just what the hell is this woman's problem, is she delusion.' Naruto thought, not even deigning her a response, just fixing her with a bored look.

"Did you do it on purpose?" She asked, her face close enough to make him uncomfortable.

"This is stupid," Naruto finally said, putting his hands in his pockets, and turning to leave. "Quit wasting my time with your bullshit, I'm leaving."

An "Obama, get him" followed up by a, "Where do you think your going!" had Naruto sighing.

The gang watched with smirks on their faces as they waited for Obama to give him a beatdown, only to stare in shock as a loud clap sounded and their friend fell to the ground.

There Naruto stood, one leg raised high into the air, obviously having kicked the other boy beneath the jaw. His hands remained in his pockets the entire time, and his long blonde bangs hid his eyes from their view.

"I don't want to fight you guys." He said, slowly lowering his foot with ease, his balance never shifting, easily showing how agile he was.

"Why!" One girl called out almost hysterically. "Is it 'cause that was a fluke, and now you know you can't take us all on!"

"No," Naruto replied calmly, his eyes now in view again, leveling each of them with a calm gaze. "My godfather taught me martial arts from a young age, I'm just afraid I won't be able to hold back enough."

His words only seemed to make them all bristle, and as a group they all charged at him, intent on making him see the error of his ways.

Naruto just had to let out another sigh at that.

2 of the 6 girls there rushed in first, coming at his flanks in a pincer attack.

'At least they have some sense of tactics, However…' Naruto thought, watching them close in.

Jumping into the air above them, Naruto watched as they collided into each other, fist's burying into the other's cheek.

Coming down from his leap, he was almost immediately intercepted by 4 others, all rushing at him, forming a circle so that he couldn't escape.

Naruto lowered his form slightly, eyes panning about, measuring everyone's distance from each other as well as him, the speed they were coming at, and where their weight was centered. It all painted a picture that allowed Naruto to find the perfect solution, strategies, or tactics.

Setting his hands on the ground, Naruto ducked under the first punch, before flipping into a handstand, and split kicking the 2 closest to him. Crossing his arms into a better stance, the blonde whipped his body into a windmill, before sweeping the legs from underneath his two opponents.

Raising himself up slowly and with grace, Naruto gave an air of unawareness, something the two remaining girls were far too eager to cash in on.

Leaning back in the very last second, Naruto grabbed both of their arms and threw them towards each other. Launching into a back handspring to get away from the collision, Naruto watched as the two knocked each other out.

Now only one remained, the original girl whom he could only assume was their leader.

Naruto walked forward, his movements smooth and graceful. Kanae Hozuki could only stand there and accept her fate.

"You know," He said slowly, Kanae closing her eyes and tensing her body. "I would normally just beat you up like the rest of your goon squad to teach you a lesson as well. However, when I look at your eyes, they look different from the rest."

Here Kanae opened her eyes in surprise.

"You don't hold the same hero worship that the rest did, you look almost concerned, as if this was personal." He spoke in the same soft even tone.

Even with his eyes half lidded with indifference, Kanae found that she couldn't tear away from his gaze, no more as if she was caught in a trap. It was as if he was peering at her soul, it was incredibly unsettling, yet her heart sped up in her chest, beating erratically, pounding loudly in her ears while her gaze was entirely focused on the intense look Naruto had leveled her with.

"For that, I'll let you off the hook." Closing his eyes and putting his hands in is pockets in dismissal, Naruto stepped past her and started walking back towards the main campus building.

Suddenly stopping mid step as if he had forgotten something, Naruto looked at the girl over his shoulder.

"And please don't just assume the worst of people, it's not very becoming of a lady after all." Naruto said, throwing a playful smirk and a small wave in her direction, before continuing on his way.

Kanae felt a fierce blush spread across her cheeks from the entire encounter, before a groan from one of the students she had brought along reached her ears.

* * *

"Uzumaki? What brings you here." She asked surprised, but overall happy to see him.

"Please Touko, just call me Naruto," He said stepping into the club room she liked to spend her lunches holed up in. "You know how I feel about formalities."

Turning around and offering a bright smile, she followed behind him.

"Sorry, Naruto" She offered with an apologetic smile as Naruto threw his backpack on the table and sat down heavily. "It's a force of habit."

"Its whatever." He replied a small satisfied smile on his face.

Walking towards the table, Touko sat down near him.

"What brings you here." She started off.

"I need an alibi."

She couldn't help but sigh at that one.

"Why am I not surprised." She huffed out, slumping into her chair.

A cheshire grin seized Naruto's features, and like a predator he pounced at the slightest sign of weakness.

"Of course, my main reason was to come see you."

Touko gave a small amused smile as she waited for the theatrics soon to come.

"In between boring lectures the thought of meeting you at lunch is the only thing that keeps me going." Here Naruto leaned forward in his seat and gestured in the air with his hands, a falsely arrogant smirk sent Touko into a fit of giggles.

"But if I'm being honest here, I really do need you to tell anyone who might question you that I was here with you all of lunch." Settling down into his chair once more, Naruto pulled out a large black bento from his box and read the note that had been posted on the lid.

Touko easily agreed, before she also began reading what was written for Naruto.

"Have a nice day, Onii-chan! ❤❤❤" The blue haired girl read aloud, to Naruto's slight embarrassment.

"Isn't that cute." Touko teased, Naruto struggling not to show any reaction, but a slight aversion of his eyes more than gave him up.

"Haha, honestly," She continued, smiling sweetly. "You and Kasumi sure do get along well for siblings."

Naruto gave a short grunt of acknowledgement, before picking up his chopsticks and grabbing the first thing that he saw.

"You know we aren't actually siblings." Naruto said offhandedly as he bit into the rice ball that was suspiciously shaped like him.

Touko froze for a second, while Naruto continued eating. Once the girl had gotten over her short moment of shock, she asked him to explain.

"Yeah, I'm actually adopted," He began, making a deadpan face as looked at the hearts made in soy sauce drizzled all throughout his rice. "I didn't show up into the family until about 6 years ago, when I was 10."

"Haven't you ever noticed that we looked nothing alike, or wondered why my name wasn't Honoka?" Naruto questioned.

"Well now that you point it out, it does seem-" She was suddenly cut off as the bell signalling the end of lunch rang.

"Well, I have trash duty." Naruto said as he rose from his chair and stretched his arms high above his head. "So as much as I'd love to stick around for a few more minutes, I do have somewhere to be."

* * *

"A bunny?" He questioned as he pulled out the object that had been grabbing his attention from the trash can.

'Maybe one of the girls lost their stuffed animal.' Naruto thought as he turned the little bunny this way and that, searching for anything that could point out the owner.

"Well here's something," His eyes landed on the note stitched onto the toys stomach, before he read it quietly in confusion. "Today's weather: Sunny with spot showers of the school falling."

What the hell kind of forecast was that, and why would someone right such a weird message on a child's toy?

His musings were cut short as a growing shadow blocked out the sun and caught his attention.

Slowly tilting his head up, Naruto was treated to the sight of a FUCKING clocktower descending from the clouds, and on a speedy collision course with him.

Even shocked as he was, Naruto had the sense of mind to get the hell out of there; rushing to get to safety even though it was clear he would get crushed.

'Come on! There's absolutely no way i'm-' Naruto shouted in his head as he focused every ounce of his being on a spot on the grass 20 yards away and well out of harm's way; the school building damn near right on top of him at this point.

Smoke rose in large clouds from the site of the crash, the tower like structure destroying the ground below it and creating a large crater in the middle of the field.

He shouldn't have survived that.

That tower was being dragged down to earth by gravity at such speeds that Naruto had absolutely no chance of getting out of there. Yet somehow, he had.

One moment he was about to be crushed, then an in instant, his body went into overdrive and next thing he knew he was here, sitting on the ground shaking slightly as the energy from before left his body.

Whatever he had felt a moment ago, it sure as hell wasn't adrenaline, he knew what adrenaline felt like and that was most definitely not what he felt earlier.

The large face of the clock sat only 3 feet away from him, his form easily distinguishable in its reflection. What he saw made his eyes widen.

A pattern like black flames could be seen rippling softly on parts of his face, neck and arm, quickly receding to a place on the back of his neck. A place he knew a strange birthmark occupied. Pushing some of his hair out of the way, and checking it out in the reflection, Naruto confirmed the 3 tomoe mark on the left side of his neck, right where his neck met shoulder blade.

"What the hell is going on around here?" He asked quietly, not expecting a reply in the slightest bit.

"So that didn't take you out huh," Whipping his head around, Naruto saw a strange girl with cat ears atop her head, wearing his schools uniform and wielding some sort of scepter. "Guess I'll have to go overkill on this one."

'Wait, she's the one responsible for this!?' Naruto's thoughts were cut off, when a ticking noise alerted him to the bunny he still hadn't put down.

Looking down at the cursed object, Naruto saw a timer that had already reached 3 seconds. He didn't even have the time to register the fact that he was holding a bomb before he heaved it with all his might away from him.

It proved to be futily though as the timer had gone off before it had reached any considerable distance from the boy.

"Shit!" Naruto threw up a cross guard out of sheer reflex, knowing from the start it wouldn't do anything to lessen the force but still doing so.

He was surprised however, when instead of the raging hot flames and shrapnel he had been expecting, he felt cool air against his skin.

Lowering his guard, Naruto took in a few things.

One, he was being held like a princess.

Two, the person who was holding him was Kagari Ayaka, the Princess of the school.

Three, he was fucking flying.

Or rather, _she_ was flying, and by proxy, so was he.

Looking down, Naruto tried to judge just how high up in the air they were, unfortunately they were far too high for him eyeball it out.

"I-" Naruto began only to be cut off.

"The Modern WItch, eh?" Standing atop a higher building behind them, the girl from before made her presence known. "You're a lucky little bastard aren't you?"

"There." Kagari said quietly, Naruto not too sure what she was going on about, still reeling over the two consecutive attempts on his life in the past 15 seconds.

It took a second, but Naruto felt the wind blowing against his back and gravity's attempts to drag him back to the ground, as if it were angry that some human had decided to take to the skies knowing damn well it shouldn't.

He was falling.

Make that _three_ attempts on his life.

Naruto just sighed, he couldn't even find it in himself to be surprised anymore, simply watching as Kagari flipped out of the way of the two sword wielding bears that had just come after her.

Suddenly his eyes picked up on something familiar, a black mark on her hand, one of 3 tomoe, the exact same pattern as the mark on his neck.

Suddenly a large ball of flames engulfed the trio, the heat blasting Naruto in the face and forcing him to cover his front side.

Not even a second later, his descent was forcibly stopped as he returned into the grasp of his saviour once more.

"Were you hurt at all?" Naruto was vaguely aware of her voice, backing away slightly and trying to get a feel of his legs once she had set him onto the ground.

Just what the hell was going on?

"Do not leave my side." She ordered, stepping in front of him and facing off with the two robotic bunnies from before, the duo seemingly unaffected by the flames they were covered in.

A large fireball engulfed the two hulking figures once more, Naruto assumed that it was from Kagari again.

Out of the flames leapt one assailant, sword descending onto the girl in front of him, Kagari bringing up her broomstick to defend, surprising the boy since the sword didn't outright slice through the little shaft of wood she held. From the side, the 2nd bunny flew directly at Naruto, the boy quickly ducking an overhead swing despite being caught off guard. Naruto used his fast footwork and agility to back pedal from the wild swings of his opponent's sword.

Finally baiting the stuffed rabbit, Naruto dodged at the very last second and watched as the now free of flame bunny buried its sword deep into the grass, unable to pull it out.

Naruto was about to smirk in victory when he felt another presence from behind. Sparing a glance over his shoulder, Naruto widened his eyes in fear as he saw another large sword aiming at his chest.

Fuck.

Seeing an opportunity, Naruto spun around the still struggling first robot, and put his hands on it's back, guiding it slightly forward until it was in range of the sword that was almost finished with it's arc.

'Please don't slice right through the entire rabbit and chop my hands off afterword.' Naruto silently pleaded, fear easy to see on his face.

Luckily for him, the seconds rabbit's sword only got halfway into the 1st, before it stopped completely. A smile broke on his face; he was safe.

'Not for long though.' Naruto noted with trepidation, as he saw the 2nd bunny slowly but surely pulling out the blade from his friend.

Shifting his hands to get a good grip on its shoulders, Naruto flipped into a handstand above the first rabbit's head, before leaning forward and slamming his heel onto the back of the second rabbit's head, sending the stuffed rabbit crashing face first into the dirt.

Coming down to land, Naruto was shocked at the amount of damage he had inflicted on the downed rabbit. A deep dent the shape of his foot was clear to see on the rabbits exposed neck, and from what he could see, its entire frontside had been blown to bits upon contact with the ground. If Naruto hadn't been wearing pants, he probably would've noticed the same pattern of black flames covering his right leg, before receding back to an area on the back of his neck.

For now, though, he needed to focus on finishing this last guy off.

Gripping the blade stuck in it's chest with both hands, Naruto put every ounce of strength behind his arms as he slid the blade out the last few inches from his opponent's chest. Not losing a shred of momentum, Naruto shifted his hips and put one foot behind him, as he swung around in a full arc and sliced right through the neck of the bunny who had still been struggling to pull it's weapon out of the ground.

Naruto let out a wild grin of satisfaction as he watched the head soar across the field. Seemingly distracted, another foe stepped out of the woodworks, and came at Naruto, sword almost finished with it's motion.

His opponents moves weren't very fast, and they were all incredibly linear, Naruto had enough time to put the blade he held into a good position to block with. The tanging of steel clashing with steel rung out, but Naruto had still been sent flying back.

A considerable distance at that.

'Damn, that things freakishly strong.' Naruto thought, sinking his sword into the grass to stop him from flying any further back.

Now that he had the time to look around, he saw Kagari and her opponent far away from him. He had been separated while he was fighting earlier.

He had no time to rectify this though, as a large group of robotic rabbits formed a circle around him, preventing his escape.

Naruto just sucked his teeth and glared at his attackers. The bunnies took this as a sign to go, because they all rushed him soon after. Naruto would not go down this easily though. Right hand still on the handle of the large blade, the boy lifted himself up high enough to set his right foot on the guard of the blade. From there he sprung high and away from the rushing onslaught of enemies, his eyes never leaving their forms.

Sensing the ground coming beneath him, Naruto rolled backwards over his shoulder to reduce the damage from falling from such a height. Standing back up, Naruto turned around to be met with an alleyway full of more of his attackers; damn near an army of robot bunnies.

Yeah, even with all of Jiraiya's training when he was younger, there was absolutely no way he could take on this horde of enemy's.

Not like he could have made a choice either way, as a particularly large bunny came from behind and forced him onto his knees, his arms held behind him as he watched an axe wielding one approach.

'An execution, huh.' Honestly he should have been more freaked out by this, but after all the crazy shit he had just seen, and the battle following up that had really only taken the course of 2 minutes, his brain just couldn't keep up.

He was simply being presented with too much contrary information all at once, the kid couldn't exactly process that he was about to be killed.

Naruto let his head hang loosely, closing his eyes, Naruto came to terms with the situation, eerily calm even as he heard the chopping block descend.

"Naruto!" A voice yelled out to him, Kagari's to be exact.

To his amazement, the entire alleyway lit up in flames, yet he was unharmed.

A pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, but Naruto was still caught up in the fact that the flames weren't even emitting heat.

They burned the stuffed rabbits to ashes, but he couldn't feel a thing.

"Is this really a dream?" Naruto uttered, not really asking anyone, just speaking for the sake of saying something.

"What do you mean?" Now aware of Kagari's presence, Naruto leaned back slightly into her embrace.

"It's just, I thought that this was a dream earlier, but I'm still capable of logical thought, that doesn't happen in dreams." Naruto spoke in a far away tone, his gaze focused on the flames that licked at his skin and all around the pair of them, yet not hurting them in the slightest. "But, I can't feel these flames, this should hurt but they don't, I'm just so confused."

Naruto felt her body move from behind him, watched as she kneeled in front of him, felt the touch of silk as her hand cupped his face and turned his face upward to look her in the eyes. The blonde boy who wasn't even 16 looked deep into her eyes, his gaze showing how completely and utterly lost he was, half lidded in show of how tired he was physically, emotionally, and mentally. He could smell the scent of her shampoo from how close together they were, and boy was it dulling his senses.

"I know you're confused." She answered, her voice soft and calming in it's own little way. "But don't worry, I'll protect you."

Maybe if he wasn't so drained, he would have protested about being protected, about having someone else fight for him, but right now that wasn't the case. He was tired, and sleepy, her offer was very tempting, he was more than ok with letting her do her thing.

Their noses were almost touching at this point, and Naruto held onto her every last word like a devout follower hanging onto his pastor's speech. She was his guide, Naruto was a sinner willing to be set on the right path.

Flames reached higher and higher, effectively cutting them off from the outside world and providing their own little space, their own little world. Naruto was lost in the green yellow eyes of this girl.

Damn was she good looking.

"I'll protect you, because," A slight pause, Naruto listening in with rapt attention, as if she had the answer to life's greatest mysteries.

"Naruto, is my princess."

Wait, wait wait. Hold up.

Princess? He was a dude.

"I'm sorry, what now."

The flames that previously surrounded them flickered into inexistence, the normal alley walls not even showing signs of a fire having taken place here.

Standing up now, Naruto watched as she stepped back, flipping her hair over her shoulder and regarding him once more.

"So swallow your pride, and let me protect you."

Naruto couldn't help it, he burst out laughing.

Kagari waited patiently for him to finish, finally getting answers once he had.

"I'm sorry it's just," Wiping a tear of mirth away from his eyes, Naruto gave Kagari the brightest smile he possibly could. "This is all a bit too much, a lot of things have happened to me in the past 5 minutes and I'm having trouble keeping up."

Naruto sat down right where he was standing before flopping onto his back. His head never met the ground though as a knee had been placed behind his neck, Kagari could be easily made out, kneeling down by his side.

"Are you ok?" She asked, worry evident in her eyes.

Naruto smiled a disarming grin before a yawn escaped him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just exhausted. One thing though." Naruto requested.

"What is it." Her naturally soft spoken voice did wonders to lull him to sleep.

"I want you to explain everything once I wake up." And with that, Naruto passed into the sweet realm of unconsciousness.


	2. Princess Damsel in Distress?

Chapter 2: Princess; Damsel in Distress?

* * *

His eyes snapped open and his memories of the earlier battle resurfaced, images racing through his mind at intense speeds; his heart hammering in his chest and the sound of his pulse almost deafening to his ears. For all of 3 seconds since he had awoken, Naruto's mind had worked in overdrive to connect the pieces and catch up to where it had left off. Finally, he got a hold of himself and forcefully calmed his erratic heartbeat; his breathing became deep and the sluggishness of sleep left him completely.

Once he actually began to take in his surroundings, the studio like interior and the couch he was currently on let him know he was relatively safe, even if he had never seen this place before.

"Good afternoon, hope you had a nice nap." A familiar voice called out to him.

Out of politeness, he responded in kind. A quick "Yeah, it was nice" left his lips almost unconsciously, years of good manners rearing its head instinctively.

Sitting up now, Naruto watched her in silence, his body tense and waiting for answers.

He was really grateful for what she had done for him, and it was his wish not to seem rude that he didn't immediately pepper her with questions like some rookie reporter. He decided he would let the girl speak up when she felt like it, if the situation was reversed, he would like some time to gather his thoughts and craft a good explanation too.

Even with this in mind, he couldn't keep from fidgeting slightly, his mind in turmoil at all the ridiculous feats he had been witness too.

She must have picked up on this as she set the book she had been reading down and turned her full attention onto him.

"I promised I would give you an explanation as soon as it was all over," So he didn't have to wait then, that was relieving. "And I intend to make good on that promise, however I think it'd be better if we had this conversation on the way home."

On the way home? He had never seen her when he walked home, did she really live in the same direction?

"School ended some time ago, we can leave now." She told him, pointing to where his things lay on the ground not too far away, and making her way to the door.

"There's no longer any need to sneak around and protect you from the shadows." Even if she spoke those words softly, they still managed to carry across the quiet room they were in.

Picking up his bag from the floor, Naruto followed after the young woman, closing the door to the small studio behind him.

'Protection… she's been protecting me…' Naruto thought as he began to pick the phrase apart bit by bit, forming his own conclusions and trying to figure this whole situation out from the little pieces of information she had given.

'Whos the threat then, just who's after me… people like that girl with cat ears from before?' Naruto jogged a short distance to catch up with the tall dark haired beauty.

It was clear that it was more than one person after him, more than likely it was a whole organization. The girl with cat ears was definitely new, he would remember her for sure had he ever seen her before.

From the shadows… in secret; it would explain why she was always around him. On the bus, in class, they always had the same days for class duty. It definitely made sense.

And anymore just meant that there was more to come. This was the first time he was being attacked, out in the open at least. So now the ball was rolling and it was open season on him. She still had a mission to do; that was to protect him, and after this event he could only imagine the amount of threats to soon come.

Maybe it was time to put Jiraiya's training to good use and pick up the sword again.

He had only been left 10 seconds to think, but he felt he had a good idea of what was to come.

Kagari had seen the expression on his face, and gave him some time to sort his thoughts. Now, he seemed done, so she continued with the explanation.

"My mission is to protect you, because you are my master."

"I'm sorry, what now." Naruto said slowly, actually stopping short, he hoped he hadn't heard her correctly.

"You need to walk shoulder to shoulder with me, princess."

Not with this again.

* * *

'I can only imagine the rumours that will start going around soon.' Naruto thought as he washed his hands in the bathroom sink.

Now that Kagari didn't have to keep a distance, she was sticking to his side as much as she possibly could.

He just sighed lightly, he didn't have the heart to stop her, she was clearly enjoying herself.

The sound of multiple hinges squeaking alerted him to his new guests.

Another sigh escaped his lips as he turned around to the newcomers.

Out of the 5 stalls walked out 8 people; the same group he had just met yesterday.

"Didn't you guys learn your lesson yesterday." Naruto said cooly, a couple of girls flinching while apprehension shone in the eyes of some others.

"We're just here to talk." And leading the whole pack was Kanae, stepping forward to the front of the group she tried to maintain some professionalism in her voice.

It must of stemmed from the mercy the Uzumaki kid had shown her yesterday.

"Go ahead, I'm listening." Naruto replied, putting his hands in his pockets and leaving himself open to any assault.

'Chh, he really doesn't see us as a threat.' One of the kids in the back thought with a snarl on his face.

"Whats up with you and the princess!" Shouted some girl from the back, her temper getting the better of her.

"Yeah, we might have been able to write off yesterday's incident, but sitting together on the bus, walking to school together; we want some answers, Uzumaki." Kanae finished with an irritated look on her face; her frown deepening when Naruto's reaction was just to close his eyes.

Damn, he couldn't exactly tell them the real reason, not about the Tower and Workshop witches. Neither could he come up with a good enough lie on the spot.

Guess he had to go with Plan B.

Opening his eyes once more he moved into a more intimidating stance.

"I don't have to tell any of you a damn thing."

"Thats fucking it, Uzumaki!" Obama rushed forward with his right fist raised, ready to lay the mother of all right hooks on this kids face.

Naruto took his right hand out of his pocket, caught the kid's fist, and flipped him onto his back in one fluid motion. Obama struggled to get some breath in his lungs, Naruto still held the dude's fist in his hand.

Everyone was on edge, the tension was thick, and Kanae grit her teeth in anxiousness. She didn't want a repeat of last time, Uzumaki would kick all their asses, and she really didn't want her crew flying off the handle.

Luckily, someone intervened.

"Naruto, you'll be late for homeroom." Still speaking in the soft voice of hers, Kagari made her appearance.

"Was… someone trying to be rough with you?"

Kagari's bodyguards each felt a shiver run down their spines.

Naruto stood with his back up against the sink, never having moved from that spot. Looking down, Obama, who Naruto still hadn't let go of yet, was still squirming on the ground slightly.

In the silence that preceded that question, all that could be heard in the boys bathroom, was the sounds of Obama wheezing and writhing on the floor.

"No." Naruto finally broke the silence, speaking in an almost incredulous tone. "No matter how you look at this, I'm the one who roughed him up."

Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked Naruto directly in the eyes, completely ignoring the kid on the ground, the group of 7 kids off to the side, as well as his earlier statement.

"I know you wouldn't do that just because, he must have came at you first."

Guess she had a point there.

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Kagari spoke in a very serious voice.

"If there is ever a person who _does_ manage to harm you, make sure to tell me." Naruto was ready to agree if only to calm her ire, but then she had to finish that sentence. "I'll send them to an early grave."

Naruto just had to sigh at that. Letting go of the kid, Naruto stepped over him and reached Kagari's side. It was subtle, but he could see her perk up slightly once he walked over to her.

The two left the bathroom together, everyone else just rooted in their spots.

* * *

"Princess, I can't take it anymore, so I'm going to speak!" Some girl shouted out from the back of the crowd, standing up in anger. "Uzumaki's cool and all, but what's up between you."

There were a couple comments from the crowd of girls, mostly questions about the two's relationship.

"Actually, Kagari, she does bring up a good point." Naruto said suddenly standing up to Kagari's slight dismay. "Not to mention these girls all waited a long time to get these seat reservations with you, it's wrong for me to intrude."

"But, Naruto-" Kagari didn't get to finish before she was cut off.

Naruto actually felt a little bad, she did look sad that he was leaving, but he had things to do.

"It's fine, I actually have something I want to check out right now." Walking away from the small gathering, Naruto gave her one last smile. "I'll see you in class."

Kagari sat there in silence,silently fuming.

They had just made her princess uncomfortable enough that he felt the need to leave.

With just a stray thought, she set everyone's lunchbox on fire and stood up to follow after Naruto.

She had to go comfort him, these girls had obviously hurt his feelings.

* * *

"What a nasty illusion." Naruto complimented.

"Why thank you." Stepping out of the shadows was the cat girl from before.

Now that he got a good look at her, Naruto realized it didn't just stop at the ears. Her eyes were shaped like a housecats, her eyebrows were fairly short, adding to the strangeness. A collar hung around her neck, with what he assumed was her name, and a chain that went down her front and disappeared around the waistline of her skirt.

"Because it wasn't clear whether or not you were safe, I took certain measures to ascertain the facts." Naruto stood across from her, listening with an air of indifference, although it was a little hard to keep his composure with his neck itching the way it was.

"And since you waltzed out here like this," Now the mark on his neck was starting to burn, a grimace actually making its way onto his face now. "It's perfectly clear that you're fine."

Naruto reached for the birthmark on his neck sharply. Grasping at it and wincing, the boy could feel the mark throbbing beneath his skin, as if trying to break free from it's confines.

"Just so you know . . ." She said, not having moved from her spot whatsoever, a smirk on her face as if she had already won.

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted from the mark on his neck, Naruto sucking in a breath of air at the pain. A tattoo reminiscent of black flames flowed down his left arm, and probably his face as well if he were to go off what happened yesterday.

Glancing up sharply, Naruto watched in confusion as the former image of the girl dissolved into nothingness, appearing in front of him in her full attire like that of yesterday.

'Fuck!' Naruto leapt out of her reach, surprising himself at the speed and distance he had managed.

Clenching his left hand into a fist and shifting into a fighting stance, Naruto marveled at the feeling of power rushing through his veins. Looking down at his left hand again, he studied the flame pattern closely, before looking back up at his opponent.

In the few seconds he had taken to admire his new tattoos, it seemed the girl had called in reinforcements. The robot army from yesterday had once more made an appearance; a circle of 40 had formed around him.

"Naruto." Kagari had joined his side, from… nowhere actually.

How did she get past the goon squad without anyone noticing?

"Stay behind me, I'll-" Naruto immediately cut her off with a gruff "No." that ended that conversation prematurely.

There was so much energy and adrenaline pumping under the surface of his skin that it had become a struggle to stand still anymore.

"Go." With one word the army descended upon him.

Chaos broke out about the same time the frenzied look broke out on his face.

The boy disappeared in a flicker of movement before appearing once more with his right hand buried up to the elbow inside his first victim of the day.

Pulling it out immediately and shoving the robot away roughly, Naruto looked on with a maniacal glint in his eye as even more approached.

"First Blood." He whispered, before flickering out of existence once more.

10 of them fell in one foul swoop when the blonde started making his rounds; fists and feet had utterly destroyed the metal bodies of his opponents.

Grabbing the nearest one, Naruto threw it at two approaching robots and watched as the group crashed into the floor several yards away in a twisted and broken heap.

'I feel like I can take over the damn world at this rate.'

A rising kick to the chin of one sent its head flying away, the other robots watching it soar into an arc and landing a few yards away.

Confusion ran through the ranks of the small army, that now reached upwards of 80, before they all convened into one large area hoping they could find the boy.

Not even Kagari herself could find him. Standing off to the side and watching his form the entire time to intervene if need be, she had only seen him vanish in a high speed burst and hadnt seen his reappearance.

Her worrying was cut off though as a large commotion near the back of the crowd began to gather everyone's attention.

Naruto had discovered dam near immediately the results of focusing the energy teeming in his veins. The high speed bursts from earlier required building that energy all throughout his body before moving. The boosted strength just needed focusing on the body parts coming in contact with the metal from the robot bunnies.

Controlling the flow of energy was incredibly easy, it was like shifting your attention to your feet or to your arms, or just visualizing your entire body in terms of speed.

Once the robots had finally got their wits about them, Naruto quickly found himself dodging sword strikes from 5 to 8 different enemies at once. While his body was capable of moving out of the strikes, his eyes couldn't quite follow.

Then he brilliant idea of channeling the foreign energy to his eyes, and the results were amazing. While he wasn't necessarily seeing things in slow motion, his eyes and mind were now capable of taking in all the information in his sight and working at fast enough speeds that it made sense.

The boy was a whirlwind of fists, elbows, knees, and feet as he tore a path through the various bodies. Metal gave into flesh like the slightest amount of weight on wet toilet paper.

"Just what the hell…" Her voice broke off as the unnamed Tower Witch stared in shock at the blonde boy who had just fought off 120 sword wielding robots twice his size without any injuries.

Suddenly the boy collapsed on the ground, and Tanpopo ddnt waste a single moment calling upon her entire reserve of soldiers.

They poured out of the alleys in a dead sprint, 200 followed by a few monstrously tall robots that easily reached some of the smaller buildings in this little courtyard.

"Oh fuck." Naruto coughed out, his body was trembling and a cold sweat had broke out on his skin.

He couldn't get up anymore, he was screwed.

Then everything went dark.

* * *

"Ka- Kagari." He choked out once he opened his eyes again.

Looking at her expression, one wouldn't think anything was wrong, but oh boy was there something seriously wrong about the situation she was in.

With but a glance he could see multiple swords sticking out of her body, piercing her torso and arms. She kneeled over him in a protective stance obviously meant to shield him from the blow.

"Oh shit, I... I'm so sorry, If- if I," Blood dripped onto his face as he stuttered out a sentence, his mind overcome with grief at the fact this girl had just given up her life for him. "If I hadn't gotten ahead of myself back there…"

"Naruto." She said calmly, with one word she had eased Naruto enough to gain control of himself once more.

Not quite enough to question how in the world she was able to speak, let alone hold herself up the way she was.

"Yes." He answered, his eyes were only on hers, perhaps seeking some sign of forgiveness for landing her in this situation.

"Does this mean you'll let me protect you from now on."

"From now on!" And just like that the anger at himself came back and he lashed out. "What do you mean from now on, you can't survive from that, I basically killed you!"

"Please just answer the question."

"Yes, fine." He said harshly, tears falling from his eyes now and biting his lip in anguish.

Whatever made her happy in her last moments, she deserved it.

"Good." She seemed satisfied now, and Naruto's heart almost broke when he saw that.

His tears certainly did not stop when she tried to brush them away either.

"I'm made of fire, I'm invincible, I cannot die." She said, Naruto almost whimpered.

Even at death's doorstep she stilled tried to comfort him.

"Close your eyes, I'll take care of this." Her voice even softer than before, almost soothing in nature, he did as she asked, a drop of blood falling onto his cheek as he did so.

Gritting his teeth and clenching his eyes shut, Naruto felt nothing but disgust and utter loathing for himself. However, he could wallow in self pity later, right now, his job was to follow whatever she asked of him.

She deserved nothing less, she deserved so much more. She most assuredly didn't deserve this.

If she asked for him to kill himself on the spot, he wouldn't hesitate even if he felt he deserved far worse.

These were her dying words after all, he felt compelled to do so.

And then bright red lights filtered past his eyelids and the sound of an explosion tore him out of his stupor, enough that he even began to notice that he was being bridal carried.

Opening his eyes in shock, Naruto looked up at the flaming beauty above him.

Flames licked the ends of her skirt and cape, a crown of fire sat atop her head, and her eyes positively glowed neon.

"You will pay dearly for what you just did, little animal girl." In the most expressive he had ever seen her, the beginnings of a sneer marked her face.

How she was able to still look hot while doing so will forever be a mystery to our young blonde.

Pure unbridled fear possessed the cat girl who they had been facing.

"Incinerate."

And with that an extremely large explosion, the likes that covered the entire courtyard, forced Naruto's eyes shut once more.

* * *

The courtyard was back in order, appearing as if the large battle from earlier hadn't actually occurred.

Kagari stood across from him in all her beauty, seemingly uncaring of anything.

Kagari was extremely tall for a girl, she was actually taller than Naruto. When the two stood together it was hard to notice because of the way Naruto's hair spiked up, but it was clear to him the height difference. It wasn't much but he did have to look up slightly in order to meet her eyes.

But none of this mattered right now.

"I thought you would close your eyes." Kagari told him, her face indifferent, but her body conveying nervousness.

Perhaps she was insecure about that form of hers. He didn't know why she would, but it would explain the reason why she wanted him to close his eyes.

It sure as hell wasn't to shield him from violence, of that he was sure.

Either way she was hauntingly beautiful in both forms.

Crossing the distance between the two, Naruto wrapped his arms around her tightly, and buried his head in her neck.

Kagari was initially surprised, but gave into a small smile.

She was now able to comfort her princess just like she had intended to do when he had left earlier into their lunch.

Mission Accomplished.

* * *

"Class we'll be introducing 5 new transfer students." The teacher announced from the front of the class, Naruto not in the least bit paying attention.

The previous day the boy had been put through the ringer emotionally and physically.

Even now he had dark circles under his eyes from a lack of sleep.

Some of it had to do with training he had done last night with the flame marks across his skin, shutting it on and off, testing its limits and whatnot, but the battle the past two days did impact him as well.

Hopefully though, tonight he would have a solid night's rest.

No battles, no extenuating activities. Just taking it easy.

Leaning back in his seat Naruto basked in the relative calm the day promised to bring

Maybe he'd have lunch with Touko again.

Just then 5 students shuffled into the classroom.

"Please treat them nicely." The teacher said once more before turning her back on the class and writing on the board.

"Oh for fucks sake." He groaned out before dropping his head on the desk and signing out for the rest of the class period. "What a pain."

* * *

 **A.N.** This 4k count a chapter is working out better than i expected. Chapters aren't nearly long enough that i get stuck and wont update. Im also getting 12 pages exact each time.

Anyways expect a new chapter again next week, this is my favorite story at the moment so updates for this story will be at the top of the list.

Reviews are always welcome, in fact I encourage them.

Until next time.


	3. Black Tar And Unwanted Protection

Chapter 3: Black Tar And Unwanted Protection

* * *

"What the actual fuck."

When he had walked to class this morning he had not been prepared for this.

Sure when he noticed Kagari had been missing this morning, he had thought she'd gotten into some sort of mix up with the 5 witches who transferred in yesterday, but this went beyond anything his mind had actually come to.

All the desks had been cleared and in the middle stood 4 broomsticks, brush up with various values placed on them. 100 points, 50, 25, 1; standard carnival game point value.

It made sense when paired with the fact that Kagari held a shotgun in her hand.

So shooting practice. Yeah that made sense.

Naruto nodded once in understanding before returning his attention back to the middle of the room.

What he didn't understand was why she had the quite REAL shotgun in her hand, why there were 4 of the transfer students tied up to said broomsticks, or why the hell everything was on fire.

A small fire sprite clinging to Kagari's gun gave him a devilishly cute smirk that would've sent any girl squealing due to its cuteness.

"Ah, good morning Naruto."

Said boy just blinked.

Maybe he was dreaming, or had somehow ended up in the wrong room.

Taking a step outside and looking at the room number Naruto was unamused.

"Torture Research Society, huh." Naruto deadpanned.

Stepping back in, Naruto looked again at the 4 girls on trial.

"Kagari, wanna tell me whats going on."

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently, and she truly was innocent in her inquiry, she obviously didn't see anything wrong with her actions. "Im Witch Hunting."

Naruto just gave her a long stare, which thankfully she understood and interpreted to mean "explain further".

"You said they were a pain, right."

* * *

" _Please treat them nicely." The teacher said once more before turning her back on the class and writing on the board._

" _Oh for fucks sake." He groaned out before dropping his head on the desk and signing out for the rest of the class period. "What a pain."_

* * *

He did say that, didn't he.

Naruto sighed, he really shouldn't be surprised should he.

"I did want to join you this morning, but while I was subduing them, one escaped." She explained to the boy who only had eyes for the 4 witches burning in the room. "I figured she'd show up if I tortured these 4."

"Oh." Naruto's normal calm demeanor showed up once that had been cleared up.

He had thought she was torturing them because of an offhand comment he had made yesterday, but no she didn't take his word that seriously.

Thank God.

"MMMNNNNNNNNNGH!?" Came the muffled scream of the only girl with a ball gag in her mouth.

"Maybe we should listen to what she has to say," Turing back to Kagari, he gave her a slight frown. "And get rid of the flames too."

* * *

"Stupid witch!" Were the first words to come out of Tanpopo's mouth once the ball gag had been removed. "What's your game, you just attacked us out of nowhere. We were just trying to peacefully attend school."

"How can you say that with a straight face, you're the one who attacked us twice." Naruto said incredulously.

"You!" She screamed out, her attention fully focused on the blonde boy now. "This is your fault, all for not disciplining her properly."

"Discipline? Sounds kinky, yeah sorry no. I'm not taking advice from the one who likes chokers and ball gags."

Naruto grinned at the scream of fury she responded with.

"She's your witch, isn't she?" She bit out once she managed to get herself under control.

"Mine," Sparing a glance back at Kagari, Naruto couldn't help but think she was far off the mark, this girl did whatever she wanted. "I don't own her."

"Naruto, can I roast her, she has become annoying." Kagari finally contributed to the conversation.

An absent minded "no, that wouldn't be nice." left his mouth before he even thought about it.

"Look," Stepping forward, Naruto knew he needed to get things on track. "What's your deal, I know a little bit, but it's be best to ask the source directly. Why exactly are you after me?"

"It's nothing personal, we just want your body."

"My body?" He muttered back.

She… had a very roundabout way of doing it. Hell, she was cute enough, if she had just gone the conventional route, perhaps he would've-

"What we want, is the white stuff inside of you." She said with an air of finality.

The room went dead silent after that statement.

"We-well I mean, if that's all it is, I guess I could give that to you."

Tanpopo gaped, it had been this easy, all along she had only needed to ask.

The girl grinned in response, entirely unaware of her friends nervous gestures.

"Really, now." She tested, it wouldn't do well if he bluffed.

"Yeah, if that's all you guys want, I could go to the bathroom and get it now." As Naruto went on, Tanpopo's grin quickly fell into a look of confusion.

Bathroom, what the hell was the kid talking about?

"Yeah, it'll probably take me ten minutes, cause I don't really have any material to work with." Naruto looked behind him at Kagari, who had come even closer, her breasts almost directly in his face. "Make that 5 minutes, I have something good to work with now."

"Wait, kid what are you talking about." She uttered.

Naruto fidgeted in place for a second, a tight frown on his face as he refused to look the girl in the eye. Kagari had placed her hand on his shoulder in what he had supposed was supposed to comfort him.

Of course, if he could've seen the glare she leveled the cat girl with, it would've been clear her real intentions.

Alas, he could not, and thus misunderstandings ran rampant within the room.

"Please don't make me embarrass myself even more." Naruto said once he had gotten his fidgeting under control, although his face made his displeasure known with the girl.

Thankfully for everyone involved, one of the other witches involved, the one with glasses, quickly explained the situation to Tanpopo, whose face progressively got redder the more she heard.

Finally.

"NO! No that's not what I meant! Not at all!" She vehemently denied.

Everyone's guard sufficiently down, the 5th member of the odd group made herself known.

Naruto was accepting the girls words one moment, and the next he found himself flipped upside down and sinking into some weird black muck that he would've mistaken for tar were it not without smell.

He couldn't see, for his eyes had already plunged through the surface, but he more or less heard the sound of ropes snapping, the rushed "Take care of the witch!" and the clipped "Naruto." before he found himself on the floor below.

"Now to get away while carrying Naruto elegantly." Naruto had been thrown over this tall blonde girls shoulders, and for the life of him could not move.

Not even his birthmark would answer his pleads.

Fuck, he hated being helpless.

Guess it was time to turn to his other talents to get out of this one.

"Hey cutie," The girl paused in her dash, she was listening this was good. "How bout we ditch this place and go somewhere more private."

Let it be known, his godfather was a terrible influence.

The blonde with the eyepatch let out a loud laugh, before turning her head towards him. Considering he had been slung over her shoulders, their faces were fairly close.

Had he been any other boy, he would have blushed at being this close, even with the eye patch the girl was still good looking. However, this was Naruto; his only reaction was staring at her with a face that he hoped conveyed utter seriousness.

"Nice try kid, but your not getting off that easily." She said with another laugh as she began sprinting down the hallway again.

Fuck, it hadn't worked.

"Although, before the extraction I'll be sure to make good on that offer."

Hmm, maybe there was a silver lining to this yet.

Then the ceiling exploded, and fire flooded the sides of the hallways.

Looking up, Naruto was treated to the sight of an unamused Kagari as well as the sprawled out defeated forms of the other 4 girls.

Needless to say the girl realized the gravity of her situation, Naruto almost wished she hadn't as now he was being used as a hostage.

"If you come one step closer," Kagari took another step anyways, after all Naruto wasn't lying when he said the girl did whatever she wanted.

"I'll bite Naruto's head off!" At that she most definitely stopped.

Naruto was unamused, to think he and this girl were getting along earlier.

"Kagari, don't listen. I'm too important to kill, she has to use restraining force, she can't injure me that much." Naruto ordered.

"See thats where you're wrong kid," Naruto listened in shock, the jaws of the dog resting on his throat becoming all that more serious. "Just because we didn't come out the gates with lethal force this time around doesn't mean we have to bring you in alive. In fact Tanpopo always went straight for the kill."

Oh shit, she was so fucking right. How could he have forgotten.

Damn, he had been banking on the fact that they couldn't go all out on him, but if that wasn't the case. . .

Real fear, the likes that sent your heart overclocking and made your skin tingle, settled through his bones.

"Naruto, don't worry, just stay still." Kagari announced calmly, resuming her slow pace and approaching the witch before her. "I'll save you, no matter what."

Dammit, here he was being protected again.

Over and over and over again! Nothing changed.

He had pride in the fact that he was strong; that he could solve his own problems. He stood above his peers, some might even call him a real man, whatever the hell that meant in this day and age.

But Naruto stood above the rest.

He did not run away from his problems, nor did he push them off for other people to take care of. He was no child, he did not have to be taken care of.

He had been proud to have that kind of strength; it was what made him so confident, so charismatic, and sometimes even arrogant.

To have that seemingly crushed in the span of three days now…

He was naught more than a child at this point and that would not do.

And right then and there, it was decided, he'd have to take up the sword again. Put Jiraiya's training to good use. Hell he could even carry it around school if he made the sheath appear wooden like a boken. No one would be suspicious, and he would always be able to protect himself.

He'd also train more with the black flames that marked his skin.

His face in a grim mask of determination, Naruto left his thoughts in order to meet Kagari's eyes again. To give her confirmation that he would obey, but what he saw made is face fall.

Kagari looked absolutely furious, she looked ready to kill the girl in front of her. Her face had darkened and she leveled a murderous glare ahead while fire had almost completely taken over her person. Jumping erratically, and almost feeling evil, even when he knew that fire alone was not inherently evil.

The fire surrounded them burned darker shades of red compared to the warm orange he had come to familiarize himself with; casting long shadows along the walls that made him sweat the more he paid them attention.

"Now how should I cook her?" He hadn't heard what she had mumbled before, but now it was loud and clear, a voice of malicious intent and feeling he had not expected the girl was capable of. "I think I'll start by burning off that wavy hair. Might be fun."

That made the blonde witch take a step back.

"I- I figured you were just protecting what he held inside, but to think you actually care for Naruto here like that, that he himself is what's important to you."

"So that's your mission, huh?" Her voice had started off low, but as she realized the situation her voice gained more and more traction until she had regained her earlier confidence.

"But right now he's in my hands, how are you going to save him now?" A teasing grin lit up her face as she playfully stroked the helpless Naruto's cheek, a suicidal move if ever there was one. "Dont worry too much, I'll make sure to take good care of him."

Kagari's frame shook slightly and her lip actually curled into a snarl. Naruto watched in a mix of horror and fascination as the wallpaper started to peel and melt off the walls.

Kagari took one more step forward.

"What did you think I was bluffing!" The fangs bit deep into Naruto's flesh.

The boy felt pain for the briefest of seconds before everything went black.

* * *

'Five.' Naruto counted the blades of the ceiling fan in silence.

He was back on the couch of Kagaris studio. All was calm and the battle was over.

Naruto hadn't even reacted upon waking up; his eyes had opened and he knew of the events that took place earlier just like all past events.

It didn't take him anytime to recall, it was like his name. It was something he was aware of and didn't need to acknowledge upon waking up.

He had lied there and tried to understand why there wasn't any pain in his neck, but this proved fruitless. Besides he could sense the girls presence some odd 10 feet away, no need to senselessly rack his mind when the answers were right there.

He had been prepared to ask about this development when he stood up, but by then he had already see the scarf around her neck.

He didn't know how she did it, but there was only one solution that made sense.

She had taken the blow for him.

It was logically sound, she was made of fire afterall, she wouldn't die from mortal wounds in the same way he might. But it still left him feeling responsible.

Responsible for the girl he had put in so many fights in the past three days that it truly wasn't even funny.

Closing her book upon seeing him standing there staring at her, she incorrectly guessed what he was thinking.

She was anxious, but it was better to get this over with now; she would not keep anything from her princess, even if he despised her for it later.

"I never wanted you to see me like that, that was why I had you close your eyes yesterday."

Naruto was confused for but a moment before he realized what she was saying, however in that second it took for him to realize, she had already followed up.

She felt all sorts of bad emotions that she couldn't identify brewing in her chest, and soon started to blurt out everything. She truly felt as if she had let the boy down in some manner, and so words came spilling out of her mouth with no pause.

"I saw how scared you were of me back there, but instead of stopping I merely became angrier. I had blamed the witch that had taken you hostage and turned her into a target for my ire. If it hadnt been for her doing, the whole situation wouldn't have happened, you would have never seen me making such frightening expressions, and for that it was her fault. And then she dared to touch you like that, to treat you like a hostage, and she even had the gall to try and kill you before me. I can't tell you exactly what I was feeling, because not even I can remember it exactly, but I do know I scared you. For that I'm sorry, and while I doubt you'll accept my apology-"

"Stop." He ordered, his expression showing his uncomfortableness with the conversation.

"Please." he pleaded softly; Kagari dropped her head unable to meet his gaze in what she had interpreted as disappointment.

Throughout her entire speech she had locked eyes with Naruto, in what he could only assume was her way of showing her utter honesty with him, before breaking contact as the shame she felt for herself grew to be too much and she felt she couldn't look at him any longer.

She had poured out her heart, and while she had kept her face and voice even, Naruto could see the pain and resignation in her eyes.

"Kagari I'm not mad at you, nor scared." Naruto's statement drew an instant response from her; as much as she tried to keep a neutral expression, Naruto could see the hope and disbelief warring within her within the tremble of her shoulders. "and i don't know why you think i would be."

"Ill admit I was afraid at the time." Kagari's eyes spoke leagues more than she ever had to him, and right now they threatened to swallow him up with the emotional roller coaster that was this girl right now.

It made it clear to him just how much he meant to her, that this normally stoic and expressionless girl would be on the verge of tears due to the way he perceived her.

"But I wasn't afraid of you," He clarified, he did not want this girl thinking that he didn't want to be around her any longer, because he did. "I was afraid of what you might do."

Understanding flashed in the girls eyes and suddenly a weight had lifted from her shoulders. A small smile graced her features before she looked down in the hopes of composing herself.

To think that she had been so scared of him rejecting her; she should have known that wouldn't be the case.

Now with that obstacle out of the way she was able to return to the neutral, almost indifferent gaze that she stuck to most often.

"So whatever happened to the witch from before."

"I let her go."

"You let her leave, just like that." Naruto was surprised, Kagari had been downright furious with the girl, to think that she just let her off the hook.

"When she had dropped you, I took you away immediately." She responded. "They were no longer my concern."

"So, you let them run off." Again, not too big a deal, he didn't want them dead; they were just doing their job, however Naruto had a hard time understanding her motivations.

"Your my princess, your well being is my biggest concern." She said as if that one sentence explained everything, and in a sense it did.

"That still leaves one thing though." He breathed out as her scarf caught his attention once more.

Walking until he stood directly in front of her, Naruto reached out for the cloth covering her neck.

"Naruto." she said as a warning, although the strength of her voiced waned at the end, and her eyes pleaded with him.

He didn't want to put her through anything more, but he had to see, and Kagari would let him do as he pleased as long as it didn't harm him.

Stripping away the fabric with one motion, the boy stared at the bitemarks with an unreadable expression.

Kagari refused to meet his gaze when he had finally turned to her, she knew he would be hurt if he found out, and yet she had put on such a poor disguise. She should have known better than to think he would take her explanations at face value.

With a sigh, the boy slumped down to her left, leaning over and looking down at the carpet beneath their feet.

After taking a moment to compose his thoughts, Naruto spoke once more.

"It's probably rude of me, and I doubt you want this for me, but I can't accept the way things are going right now." Now lifting his head to look at her again, he made his request. "Will you teach me magic,or better yet, take me as an apprentice."

He was right, she didn't want that for him, but this wasn't something she could avoid anylonger.

Turning in her seat so that she was now fully facing him, Kagari cupped his chin and leaned till their noses almost touched.

She was staring into his eyes, and Naruto almost forgot what was going on as he studied the peculiar yet alluring color of her eyes. Then he remembered where he was, and tried to convey the seriousness he had at following this through.

Apparently finding what she needed, Kagari stood up and faced him again.

For a moment he was afraid that she would reject his request, but then she opened her mouth.

"Will you follow everything I say and put your trust in me?"

Naruto didn't even have to answer, his smile was enough.

* * *

I know Kagaris a lot more expressive in my story, and while those weren't my original intentions, I thought it came out to be pretty nice. The relationship between Kagari and Takamiya in the manga was always nice and I enjoyed it, but it felt like something was missing. Not necessarily romance, but they needed some sort of deeper connection. Sure Kagari was seen as attached to Takimiya, but it was really easy to forget the extent of her feelings. There's something good about the simplicity of the manga, but I guess in my eyes it needs a bit more. And I guess that's where this story is going, the bond between Naruto and Kagari will be explored quite a bit in this story.

Again this doesn't mean romance, I don't know if it'll ever actually get to that point. This is the only story on my profile that I don't have a solid synopsis/plotline for. '

So yeah, things are still a little undecided at the moment, but either way, Naruto still wants to get stronger and face all the bad guys after him, so I'll be busy enough that I have the time to decide later on.


	4. First Kiss

Chapter 4: First Kiss

* * *

"Mom." Leaning against the doorway and giving her a rather lazy look, Naruto waited for the woman to look up from the boiling pot she was tending to on the stove.

"Yes dear." Eyes closed and a peasant smile on her face, she addressed him the same way she had since he was 10.

It was nothing new, he heard it every single day, yet her term of endearment always made him feel slightly uncomfortable. He had always supposed she did it in an attempt to make him feel like part of the family, never knowing that it always reminded him of the fact he wasn't.

A fact his sister had made quite clear at least 3 times a week even when it was her intent to do just the opposite.

Of course he didn't let any of this show on his face.

"I'll be out for a while, can you set my share aside, I'll eat later."

"Of course, hun."

Naruto watched for a few seconds as she went back to stirring whatever she was making in the pot, before turning around and grabbing the golf club bag he had filled with multiple sheathed weapons and walking out the door.

The spinning blades of the ceiling fan went through its cycle. The table had already been set for three, and the white tile floor shone vibrantly from having been mopped earlier. The smell of beef stew wafted throughout the large kitchen, and the only sound that could be heard was the rapid popping of bubbles as Komachi turned the heat up to a hard boil, as well as the soft humming of the kitchens lone occupant.

However cheerful she may have sounded, and no matter how perfect the scene may have been, there was no mistaking the small frown on Komachi's face.

No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get that boy to accept the fact that they were family.

She may appear to be airheaded and aloof, but she had picked up on her child's thoughts on the matter.

'Yes, my child.' She mentally confirmed.

He remained stubborn on the matter, and thus kept his distance. It had even gotten worse as of late. These past few days he had been isolating himself more than usual; the same as he had when she had first introduced him to the family.

He was polite, he listened, he had good grades, all around he was exactly what she could ask for and more. However he was so adamant in keeping her and Kasumi at arm's length.

There were the rare few moments where he showed that he actually cared, but for the most part he had his guard up and refused to get too close.

That wouldn't do, but what exactly could she do to bring him closer that she hadn't already tried.

All she could do now was give him time and hope he warmed up further.

A loud drawn out sigh escaped her mouth; an action uncharacteristic of her.

Looking down and snapping out of her thoughts, Komachi quickly took the pot off the stove and turned the gas off.

"Kasumi, dinners ready!" She called as she grabbed a couple bowls and started filling them with beef stew.

By the time she finished and returned to the table, she saw her daughter looking around in confusion.

"Where did Naruto go?" She finally asked after several moments.

Setting down a bowl of stew in front of her daughter, Komachi turned around before answering.

"You're brother went out," Before the inevitable question of "where, and for how long" came out, she had already answered. "I don't know for how long or exactly where, but it looks like he went to the dojo, I saw him carry those swords from the basement when he left."

Kasumi took a bite of her food and decided not to say anything more. Although she was put off slightly by the fact that Naruto had decided to skip out on dinner that night.

In fact, he had been rather distant the past few days; it reminded her of when he had first become a part of the family.

It was probably the Princesses' doing, she had been clinging to her brother's side quite often as of late.

Glancing up from the food she had been stirring around, Kasumi caught the solemn look on her mother's face. She usually smiled at dinner.

Returning her gaze downward a frustrated look crossed her face and she furrowed her eyebrows together.

That Fire Witch was interfering with her family, it was all her fault.

'Damn that wench, why is she being so clingy with onii-chan.' She thought bitterly, still pushing the contents of her bowl about, her mother finally taking notice.

"Kasumi, quit playing with your food, you need to eat."

"Yes, of course mom."

Dinner was a silent affair that night.

* * *

It was late, 11 when he finally got home. He was physically drained from swinging around swords for the past 4 hours. From Katanas and Chokutos, to European Longswords and daggers alike, Naruto had reviewed every single weapon. And then he had activated the mark on his neck, successfully spreading the black flames from his left profile to cover his entire body and keeping it active for a solid 2 hours through conservation of energy.

Naruto threw the golf club bag on the floor of his open room as he passed it and made his way to the bathroom.

Sliding open the door, the boy shrugged off his clothes and left them strewn about the floor as he ran some hot water into the bath and got into the shower.

After a few minutes of scrubbing all the dirt of his body and rinsing off, Naruto stepped into the warm water and dozed off.

The water and steam was doing wonders for his muscles right now.

"Onii chan!" Naruto flinched as the door was rudely entered and Kasumi walked in.

Naruto turned his head to scream at her to get out, but was floored when he saw her naked as the day she was born.

'Shit, she usually walks in with at least a towel on and I'm able to herd her out.' Naruto panicked in his mind.

Naruto's eyes of their own accord gazed at her naked body, taking in her nicely developing curves and great figure. From the slopes of her breasts, down towards her flat toned tummy, and down even further to her creamy white thighs, Naruto measured her with the look a lion would a gazelle.

Kasumi was a little shocked, but quickly got over it and became excited when her brother finally looked at her more like the young woman she was, rather than scream at her to get out.

Naruto then physically recoiled and turned his head away at breakneck speeds.

Shit, he had really just eyed her up like that. Fuck!

Being so exhausted as well as being led into a state of relaxation from the hot bath, he had let his defenses down.

Naruto groaned under his breath after he got over the shame; he had no doubt encouraged her to try even harder at winning his affection, her efforts were sure to be redoubled after this.

While he had been distracted, Kasumi took the chance to leap into the bath right behind him.

'Or maybe it'd start now.' Naruto grouched in his head.

"Kasumi you seriously need to-" Naruto stopped when he felt conditioner being lathered into his hair.

"You know Naruto," She rarely called him by his first name. "If you actually conditioned properly and combed your hair, it wouldn't be this unruly."

Naruto grunted in response; he gave up on resisting anymore, he just wanted this to be over and to get to bed.

Kasumi sighed explosively behind him, before she stood up from behind him. Water splashed down her back and hit Naruto's form, before they became mere droplets and she stepped out the bath behind him.

"I knew you wouldn't do it yourself." She said with small amounts of amusement, walking towards where the bucket and stool was. "Come over, I'll finish you off."

Innuendo aside, Naruto did take a second to look at her ass as she passed him before getting up to follow.

She was only 15, a little less than a year younger than him, but her body told a far different story.

Plopping down on the stool, Naruto leaned forward as she dumped a bucket of water over his head; washing away the soap and leaving long blonde hair to hang around him. Kasumi took to slowly pulling a comb through his hair; the conditioner making even his hair fall in line at the slightest of teasing.

The long slow strokes brushed against his scalp and almost lulled him to a sleep right there.

"And done." She cheered once it was all over.

Getting they both returned to where their clothes were; Naruto only bothered slipping into some boxers before he checked himself in the mirror.

'Did my bangs always hang around my mouth?' He idly wondered.

The rest of his hair fell about his shoulders; long gone were the natural spikes of his hair, it had become limp.

A pair of hands pull his bangs back and tied them to the back of his head with a hair tie. In the mirror, he saw Kasumi beam at him over his shoulder.

He could actually see the whisker marks on his face now. It was a novel sight; he had for years his them beneath his bangs.

"So, how is it?" He head Kasumi ask.

"I don't know how to feel about it." He responded before leaving the bathroom and heading down the hall to his room. "Although I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

"Wait, who!? What Girl!" Kasumi podded behind him.

"Goodnight, Kasumi." He said in obvious dismissal before closing the door to his room.

"Wait!"

* * *

"Naruto?"

Turning around at the voice, Naruto saw Kagari approaching him.

Dressed in a forest green long-sleeve, black shorts that fell just above the knee, white tube socks with 3 green stripes at the top, and black sneakers, Naruto was fully prepared for a casual outing.

Kagari was still in her uniform.

'And here I thought I'd see her in something nice looking.' Naruto deadpanned.

"Yeah, that's me." He replied, not knowing why she appeared so shocked.

And then he remembered his hair was still straight from last night. His bangs were tied back and the whisker marks on his face were out for the first time.

"Have you been waiting long?" She finally asked.

Glancing at the large clock in the middle of the square, Naruto took note of the time.

"No, I've been here about three minutes." Returning his gaze to her, he then asked. "Where are we headed first?"

* * *

'She just wanted me to carry her bags.' True to his word, Naruto had shopping bags hanging all over his form.

The boy sighed heavily as he let his eyes pan around and take in his surroundings.

No too far away from him, he saw a teenage girl holding the hand of a younger girl. From what he heard, apparently the girl had lost her mother.

'I wonder if that's ever happened to me?' Naruto thought.

He had absolutely no memories from before he was 8 years old. It was strange and when he was younger he had asked about it a lot, but when no one could supply hm answers, and with his godfather on a different continent, he had given up trying to find answers to those questions.

Naruto snapped back to attention once the teenage girl stood right in front of him, almost scrutinizing him.

'Why is she looking at me like that, do my cheeks really stand out that much?' He leaned back slightly; visibly uncomfortable.

No one paid attention to the girl with cat ears, Tanpopo. Why couldnt he get off scotch free?

"Naruto, lets-" Looking back over his shoulder when he heard his name called, he frowned a little when he saw her face express shock. "Look out!"

By the time the words had left her throat, Naruto had already found himself on the floor with a large red sword pressed against his neck.

Not this shit again.

Narrowing his eyes, the boy let familiar black flames race across his skin and gather on his left hand and right leg.

"Stay down like that." Kagari, now dressed in her witches uniform, ordered.

"I've got this." He grumbled out loud enough for her to here, while the witch currently atop him glanced down in surprise at the marks that had appeared n his skin.

Gripping the sword with his left hand and bringing his right knee to his chest, Naruto sent a powerful kick into the witches chest, throwing her several feet to land into a tangled mess with her friends.

The three of them, 2 witches had appeared but moments ago, fell into a heap of limps while Naruto got up and hefted he large sword in his hands.

'This is impractical.' He complained before spinning like a top and releasing the sword in their direction.

The girls seeing the spinning disc of doom heading their way decided to cut their losses and fled; a grappling hook taking them to a higher level where they disappeared.

"Good job, Naruto." She placed a hand on his shoulder as he released the energy flowing through him.

It wasn't much longer that the mother of the child arrived and was reunited with her daughter.

The two high school students decided to leave for their next stop.

* * *

'What the hell does this even say?' Naruto looked at the menu with a grimace on his face.

Kagari sat across from him and had just ordered her own drink.

"Um, can I get this one, here." He pointed to a random item on the menu while the waitress happily scribbled down his order and left.

"Kagari, I thought we'd actually be doing something today." He couldn't help but be impatient as he prodded the girl for answers.

"We are," She said calmly as their drinks finally arrived. "Were just taking a break right now."

Naruto looked relieved at that news and slowly dug into the parfait that had been brought to him.

Suddenly, a look of contempt crossed Kagari's face and she started looking out the glass while he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

'I wonder who it is that can piss her off like that?' Naruto raised an eyebrow in amusement and looked up to see the waitress who had come to their table.

"Touko?" He said wide eyed when he saw the blue haired waitress standing before him.

Her eyes had also widened in surprise when she heard him. Leaning over to take a closer look at his face, she beamed when she recognized him.

"Hey, Naruto." She said with her full attention on him, looking over the new changes to his face as she spoke. "I didn't recognize you for a sec there. Whats up with the change?"

Naruto put on the overdramatic air's he was use to donning whenever Touko was around, and slipped into his role.

"This was all just a ploy to get your attention." He admitted with feigned seriousness. "I had noticed my usual stunts weren't getting the attention they used to get, so I reinvented myself hoping you would notice me once more."

Throughout the act, he had made various gestures that anyone could have mistaken for him being a theatre major; over the top dramatism managing to get the girl.

Touko laughed in amusement, smiling down at him once she managed to get it back together.

"Well, I like it," Placing her hands on the tabe and leaning even closer to him, she leveled her gaze to his. "I think it looks really good on you. You should keep it up."

Naruto smiled, slightly abashed at the comment, and looked down at the parfait he had been nursing.

"You don't say," Scooping some onto his spoon, he suddenly offered some to the girl. "Hey, have you tried this it's pretty damned good."

"Oh, is that so. I haven't had the chance." Naruto held the spoon in front of her mouth, Touko gladly took it.

"That is some pretty good stuff." She said after a moment, Naruto eating the rest with enthusiasm; the ice cream was starting to melt after all.

"It's good to see you again, you haven't been stopping by the clubroom in the past few days after all, but I do have business with the princess here." She explained.

"Princess, did you hear that-" Naruto flinched in fear when he finally paid attention to Kagari sitting across from him.

The drink in her hand was emitting a surprising amount of steam, bubbles from boiling liquid evaporating in her hand, while she glared death at Touko.

'Shit, it's not even directed towards me and i'm still breaking out in a cold sweat.' Naruto shivered in fear, partly for what Kagai might do to his friend.

"You know, I think I'm just gonna go now." And with that Touko quickly hurried off to the other end of the cafe, disappearing behind double doors in which he assumed to be the kitchen.

Turning back around, he saw Kagari rising from the table.

"Let's go, Naruto." She ordered before walking away.

Naruto sighed as he got up. She didn't look too mad, but then again, that was her default face.

As he caught up to her, he trained his eyes on the ground in front of him.

He wanted to apologize cause he felt almost as if he had done something wrong, but what was he to apologize for.

Flirting with another girl in front of her? That wouldn't exactly go well, that would put their relationship into a really awkward place, and he really didn't want that.

The tapping of their shoes against the pavement kept on in the background; a monotonous sound that lulled him even deeper into his thoughts, his body unconsciously following her lead and keeping him out of the way of obstacles.

His relationship with Kagari? To sum it up, nothing more than friends. But that was wrong in a sense. Kagari always referred to him as her princess, and her his knight. It was a role as protector that she took seriously.

She had done nothing but reaffirm the belief that she was looking out for his best interests anytime that the two were together.

'And yet…'

The way she touched his face or cupped his chin, the way she carried him at times, the lack of space she sometimes created between the two, all intimate in their own way and putting some rather conflicting ideas in his head.

Did she like him? Wasn't it too soon for that kind of thing? The signs pointed out yes, but again they could easily be explained off as her taking her job seriously.

Thoughts like those made him frown even more.

'But why would Kagari be interested in me?'

He was popular among a lot of the kids at school, he go along great with everyone because he was a jokester. He made people laugh, and he had charisma to boot.

He was also rather nice and polite when the situation asked, and he was damned smart too.

All of these were pretty attractive prospects in his case, but they meant nothing to her.

Kagari was in a level of her own, and whatever edge Naruto had over most of his peers was nonexistent when it came to this beauty.

She was absolutely gorgeous, and no one could argue. It was an absolute fact, a theory accepted by so many, and proved over and over that it could never be challenged.

She was intelligent, always holding the top ranks of all her classes. She was athletic, crushing all the females and and males she had ever been put against in PE. She had an amazing body; a great figure he thought was impossible on a girl her age. A rather mature face, which combined a sharp jawline with soft delicate features. She was rich to boot.

She was a tall, cool beauty, and she had this air of regality around her at all times.

Nobody was perfect, but Kagari Ayaka wasn't far off.

So for what reason did she have to be interested in him.

She could choose absolutely anyone, so why would she waste her time on-

"Naruto." Her soft voice pulled him out of those depressing thoughts and back to the present.

Naruto locked eyes with her and got caught in her alluring gaze.

"Who is that girl to you?" She inquired, brushing a stray lock behind her ears and keeping her gaze fixed on him.

"Touko," He replied steadily, holding her gaze with complete honesty within his own eyes. "She's a friend of mine. My best friend if I'm being honest."

Kagari humphed slightly and turned back to face the road.

They stood in the middle of a low traffic street. The wind blew leaves all around the pair and shook tree branches before dying down.

"Good to know." She began walking again.

Naruto had to pause for a moment before following her again.

Why was he so excited all of the sudden?

Walking forward he caught up to her once more.

She had black hair with a blue undertone too it, her eyes were a yellow green he had only ever seen in a couple of cats, and she had a lovely pair of pink lips.

Kagari Ayaka was something else entirely.

'I guess I should just be happy I'm with her at all.'

They came to a stop in front of a large gate, and were Naruto paying attention to his surroundings earlier, he would have noticed where they were headed.

"Why are we at the school?" He asked.

"We have to meet the Chairwoman, after that, we'll head home." Kagari explained shortly, before stepping through the large gates and heading into the school.

* * *

"Ah, Naruto." She said amicably and with a big smile before shaking his hand. "I do believe this is the first time we've met."

"Yeah, pleasure to meet you." He returned, good manners as always.

Her hands were slightly bigger than his and calloused from hard work. Stepping back some, he noted the height as well as the similarities in her and Kagari's appearances.

'So that's where she gets her height from, huh?'

Nothing wrong with height, he personally liked tall girls himself.

"I heard about your performance in the mall, good job." She congratulated.

"Oh, you knew about that?" He was pretty surprised.

"I have eyes and ears all over the city, I am the Head Workshop Witch of this city afterall." She plopped down in her chair and regarded him with amusement in her eyes.

Damn if that wasn't fast. They had left the mall no more than 40 minutes ago.

"So it's come to my attention that you want to be an apprentice under Kagari."

"Yeah." He answered truthfully.

"Welcome aboard than, glad to have you on."

* * *

Kagari looked out the window, and through the reflection he could see the typical disinterested gaze on her face. Turning his head to face the front of the bus again, Naruto watched the world pass by through the windshield.

Tall green trees and winding roads passed by his window of view; the sky was darkening some and Naruto basked in Kagari's presence.

Maybe it was his hormones, or maybe it was inevitable and even a girl would feel the same way, but Naruto wanted nothing more than to get closer to her.

He had never felt any strong urges like this before, never had the drive been so strong growing up, never had his thoughts been so dominated by one act.

It was strange, and it made him feel uncomfortable. However there was no denying it.

Kagari Ayaka was extremely beautiful and he wouldn't hesitate for a second to admit he liked her.

Everyone did, and he was sure anyone in his situation would feel the same way.

Their knees brushed ever so slightly against one another, but it wasn't enough for him.

If he were being honest, he really wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her close.

It was a little off putting, and frankly scary, just how strong he felt about it.

Not even Touko, the closest girl to him, made him feel this way.

The loud engine of the bus whirred through the air, he could feel gravity exert pressure on his back when the route took them up a hill.

Naruto glanced at her from the corner of her eyes.

It wasn't love, love took time and felt different from this, it was much stronger to boot.

But it wasn't exactly lust.

Naruto slid down in his seat further and stretched his legs; pressing his back into the seat and closing his eyes in thought.

Was companionship the right description? It felt close, but it still wasn't the right term.

Tilting his head back, he let a short groan originate from the back of his throat. His eyebrows pinched closer and his expression conveyed turmoil.

"Naruto, stay here." Kagari whispered in his ear with urgency.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She was crouched in the seat and hovering protectively over him.

'What's the threat?' He sat in his chair properly and looked behind him at the other end of the bus.

Stepping out of the shadows was some red haired loli going on about some weird comparison between chocolate and people; still in the shadows was… A crocodile wearing a suit?

And why the hell were there fishes flying through the air?

"My name is Cronoir Schwarz VI. I've come in all my magnificence!" The redhead exclaimed grandly.

Kagari jumped over him and landed in a fighting stance in the walkway.

Following the witches exclamation, the bus fell into a tense silence.

"Is this what a bad acid trip feels like?" And there was Naruto spoiling it.

The stranger looked affronted for all but a second before she pulled out some strange device from her pocket.

Kagari prepared to rush forward, but after the girl pushed the button, her movements stilled completely.

"You're quite the problem when you start fighting," Chronoir said lightly, before turning the object around in her hands and thumbing a second switch. "So I procured a way of stopping you."

She pressed a button and a small explosion lit up Kagari's form.

Naruto jumped up in alarm, but when the smoke cleared, she appeared to be unharmed.

"Just like I thought, not even a scratch."

"Hey," Naruto stepped in front of Kagari and stared down the shorter woman. "What's the deal, why are you here?"

"Just came to confirm a couple of things that's all." She answered in a sweet voice that made the boy wary.

"Whether I stab her, slice her stomach, or pierce her heart," She tilted her head to the side and smiled sweetly at him. "That girl will NOT die, I just confirmed that."

"And this is the most important part now."

Naruto looked down in confusion when suddenly there was a large dagger sticking out of his stomach. Eyes widening in shock, Naruto watched as the knife slid out of its own accord and blood stained the handle.

His grit his teeth in pain and collapsed on the ground, clutching his stomach and glaring upwards at the woman who walked closer to him.

"Now tell me, where does it hurt?"

Naruto paused and took stock of the situation.

'Wait isn't Kagari the one who-' He was launched out of his thoughts when he heard a loud thump behind him.

Within seconds he had ripped part of his shirt up and bandaged the girls stomach. Blood was spilling out at a nasty rate.

'Shit, she told me she was invincible, why won't she get up?' He gnashed his teeth as he held pressure on the wound.

Suddenly he found himself restrained, his arms held back by the woman's accomplice.

'Shit I don't have time for this!' He watched in trepidation as blood began to spill out from her wound even further; he hadn't had enough time to secure it.

"Ah, so you were already aware of her ability, but do you know the ins and outs of the technique?' She inquired, once more decreasing the distance between the two.

Black flames raced across his face, and Naruto felt the familiar surge of energy flooding his veins.

His stomach twisted when the witch looked at him with unveiled glee, before snapping her fingers. Then the marks truly burned like the fire they took their shape from, and Naruto screamed out in pain.

His energy faded as the flames glowed a dark red orange before they quickly retreated into the spot on the back of his neck.

When it was over and done with, Naruto let his head dip forward and began to gasping for breath. His bangs came loose from the tie and spilled into his face, clinging to the sweat that ran down his forehead in a stream.

"So you've had a taste of the seal already, good to know." He couldn't see her, but he could hear the giddiness in her voice.

He felt her hands push his bangs out of the way, and he peered at her coolly through his lashes while she kept her hand at the back of his head.

"Levelheaded in the face of danger, huh?" She smirked at him, while Naruto did his best to keep up his poker face.

"That aside, the girl will die if you don't give her more power." She began to explain further before he could even ask. "She draws her invincibility from you, ya know. There's a binding contract between the two of you, in which she is your knight, and thus she can draw upon the power of the White Witch within you."

White Witch? Sealed, inside of him?

"But in order to give her more of that power, you'll need to eat this." And then Naruto was presented with a small candy. "It's a medicine that will let you bypass your limiters."

"Hey, since you'll be taking this anyway," She unwrapped the candy and placed it in her mouth, and in that split second he had seen 3 tomoe resting on her tongue. "Let me make this a little enjoyable for you and give you your first kiss too."

"You should be thankful." She whispered lowly before she brought her mouth to his.

Naruto widened his eyes in shock that this was happening, before he slammed his eyes shut and focused on the woman molesting his mouth and her extraordinarily long tongue. He shifted his own to try and hide the pill under his tongue, but it seemed Cronoir wasn't having any of it, as she literally shoved her tongue down his throat, his reflexes kicking in and carrying the saliva and pill down his esophagus.

He opened his eyes to see the loli pull back, slicing the trail of saliva between them before smiling predatorily towards him.

Naruto realized he wasn't being restrained anylonger, but it didn't matter one bit when he collapsed on the ground.

His body was racked with spasms, and his skin was shedding cold sweat like is body was rejecting foreign intruders. His heart stopped beating, and then he stopped moving.

He wasn't dead however, he was still able to observe even if his chest stopped moving.

His sweat had accumulated enough to form a solid puddle below him, in the reflection he could see the black flames racing up his body again. They glowed a deep orange - red, and wavered endlessly. He saw the flames burn a bright neon blue and the shape shift into something resembling lightning. Then the glowing died down slightly and he watched detachedly as the lines broke up into raindrops and transformed into a darker blue.

Kagari finally got up, and even though she had stepped out of his view, he could tell she was pissed from all the flames that melted the chair seats and superheated the metal at the top of the bus. Naruto panned his eyes until he caught his own gaze in the reflection.

His right sclera was a deep obsidian while the iris had turned a deep golden yellow.

He wasn't looking at his own eyes in that puddle, no that was a serpents.

Humans didn't have slit pupils like that.

Ba-dump

Blood began to pump through his veins again, and his heart had started up once more. His energy was returning to him, and while he was still incredibly drained, he could at least rise now.

After struggling to lift his chest off the ground, Naruto looked on in horror at what had become of the fight.

Unlike the rest of the fire present, the flames in her area of the bus were a deep green. He saw the jaws of some large beast made of fire snap down on his previous captor.

Kagari's hair had turned white with golden streaks; golden wings around a dark black cape hung from her shoulders while black stockings and arm guards covered the rest of her.

A long black stake had been driven through Cronoir's throat, and he could see Kagari standing on top of her chest.

"It's too bad, but I'll have to take my leave here." He heard her say even with the large black pike running through her neck and into the floor below.

"I'll be back soon, on Walpurgis." She explained before turning her face, slicing her throat without hesitation, and focused her eyes on his. "Until we meet again…"

"Stay well."

* * *

 **A.N.** For taking so long to get the next chapter out, I figured I'd make it a little longer to make up for it. I also experimented a bit with my writing style throughout this chapter, so sorry if its a bit inconsistent in the beginning.


End file.
